The Grand Canon at the Foot of Toroweap Looking East

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About The Grand Canon At The Foot Of Toroweap Looking East

A wonderfully detailed chromolithographic view by William Holmes and Thomas Moran from Clarence Edward Dutton's sweeping series "Tertiary History of the Grand Cañon District" published by Julius Bien in Washington in 1882. This print measures 20" x 33". These magnificent, large-scale panoramic views were included in Clarence Edward Dutton's "Tertiary History of the Grand Cañon District", a publication that has elicited superlatives from every critic, and is certainly worthy of Francis Farquhar's description of it as "one of the greatest if not the greatest of all Grand Canyon books." Originally published in 1882, Dutton's definitive work was commissioned as a study of the region's geology and issued by the fledgling U.S. Geological Survey. Today it is admired as much for its stunning views, contributed by noted artists Thomas Moran and William Holmes, as for its scientific merit. Most of the views were the work of Holmes, an artist-cum-geologist who managed to transmute the rocky strata of the site into golden panoramas that continue to startle viewers as no other canyon art ever has. Although photography had been developed forty years before, and many photographers like Timothy O'Sullivan had already been to the Grand Canyon to take pictures, Holmes's precision in drawing was able to do what the photo technology of the time could not -- cut through the haze and glare to reveal the canyon in perfect focus, with all of its strata together giving a glimpse of its history more revealing than any picture. Holmes's imagery expressed visually Dutton's notion that the Grand Canyon was "a great innovation in modern ideas of scenery, and in our conceptions of the grandeur, beauty, and power of nature." Overall this print is in very good condition with some light foxing/staining and a few very small tears along edges.